How I Met Your Mother
Episode 9 of "How I Met Your Mother" airs on CBS on Monday, Nov. 11 at 8 p.m. CBS

Tired of the wedding weekend drama on “How I Met Your Mother?” Fans of the CBS sitcom got a little break from the Farhampton nuptials in episode 9, “Platonish.”

The episode picks up on Saturday at 11 a.m., with 31 hours to go before the wedding. Robin had just learned that her mother isn’t going to be attending the wedding because she’s too afraid to fly – and needless to say, Robin is upset. Crying in the hotel lounge, the gang tries to make Robin feel better by taking her mind off of things and does so with their favorite technique – STORY TIME!

Flashback

The story is from 2012, when Barney, Robin and Ted were all single. While Barney was back to his old tricks, Ted was trying to convince everyone that he and Robin were strictly platonic. But of course Lily and Marshall know that nothing is ever that simple for Ted.

An Offer For Ted

At a Harlem Globetrotters vs. Generals game, Marshall manages to get Ted thinking about rekindling his relationship with Robin. But Ted quickly shoots down the thought – telling Marshall that Robin doesn’t change her mind about things and that he’s just setting himself up for heartache.

Insisting to Marshall that he has moved on from Robin, Ted gets a surprising phone call from his old boss, Hammond Druthers (guest star Bryan Cranston). It turns out that Druthers is working in Chicago and made the mistake of creating a building that somehow managed to kill thousands of rare fish. Now Druthers wants Ted on his team and won’t take no for an answer. Ted of course says no, but with the push of a parking spot tells Druthers that he’ll think about it the move.

Challenge Accepted

With Ted and Marshall at the basketball game, Barney accepted a string of challenges from Robin and Lily like:

-Pick up a girl while talking like a dolphin. (Success)

-Pick up a girl while wearing a garbage bag and without using the letter “E”. (Success)

-Pick up the redhead at the bar who is waiting for Ryan Gosling (who will leave if he sees that she’s talking to another guy). (Success)

Getting bored of the game, Robin and Lily tell him that his next challenge is to pick up samosas and diapers … while picking up a girl.

The Olives

While Ted denied being anything but platonic with Robin, everything changed when he returned from the game with Marshall. Walking into the apartment, Ted discovers that Robin is eating olives. Why care about olives? Ted cares because on his first date with Robin she told him that she hated olives.

“Guess I changed my mind,” Robin tells Ted with a shrug when he inquires about her snack choice.

The olives give romantic Ted one last bit of hope that he could still end up with Robin. With that hope burning inside him, he calls back Druthers and tells him that he can’t move to Chicago because he still has things to do in New York. And while Druthers threatens to melt him with a tower of glass, he tells Ted that the door is always open if he changes his mind.

How Barney Met Cristin Milioti’s ‘Mother’ Character

At the drugstore, Barney finds his target for the challenge and in a surprise twist it ends up being someone that “How I Met Your Mothers” are familiar with – Cristin Milioti’s “Mother” character!

So, did the Mother give Barney her number? Nope! Instead she breaks down Barney’s whole pickup process, saying that besides having a boyfriend, she overheard Barney call her a “target,” and believes that he’s just hitting on her because he’s sad about something.

“It’s going to be okay,” she tells him before walking away. “You’re a good guy. You will get through this.”

But that wasn’t the response Barney was looking for. Instead of moving on to another target, Barney chases after Cristin Milioti, demanding to know what she means by “sad.”

“I think you were in love and messed it up,” she explains. “And every moment of your life since then has been spent keeping busy.”

Sitting down on a bench outside, Barney opens up about Robin, telling the Mother that they tried dating but it was a disaster. But he does admit that he’s always regretted giving up because it ended so quickly.

Asking the Mother about her boyfriend, she tells Barney that she thinks she hasn’t met the right guy yet. “I wonder if I know someone to set you up with,” Barney ponders. “Nah, drawing a blank.”

Getting back to his relationship with Robin, the Mother gives him some advice – win her back!

Saying that he can get her back in 20 minutes, the Mother argues that 20 minutes isn’t enough. She tells Barney that he needs to put all his time, attention and resources into winning. “This is the big one,” she warns him as she leaves. “You got work to do.”

The Mother’s advice ultimately lead Barney to go home and write “The Robin,” the last play in his playbook – the same one he used to propose to Robin!

Back To Farhampton

Episode 9 concluded with Barney telling the gang that he had no idea who the girl was, but that she set him straight.

Did you like the story of how Barney met the Mother? Let us know your thoughts on “How I Met Your Mother’s” ninth episode in the comments section.

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